Welcome to London Towers:
I’ve come to do what I can to make the Towers win. They’ve had several players coming in and out and I know they’re looking for stability so I’m trying to fulfil a role. I bring points scoring, rebounding and defensive play to help the team. It’s been surprising for me to be able to come in and make such an impact straight away as I thought it would take a while. I’ve been in the BBL for almost two years so I know the players and how the league works. I played with Jerry in Scotland and played against Rod, Lynard and some of the others before. I have a lot of respect for them and feel I know them a little already so it’s made slotting into the team a lot easier. I guess I’m a big city person, London, New York, I’m having fun here. Plus we get all the travelling to do, despite spending hours on the coach it’s fun.
I came from Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany, the team were sponsored by a big pharmaceuticals company. The team is coached by Mike Taylor, who started in Germany then came to the Leopards then returned to Germany.

I try not to play emotionally, players who do get low when it’s not going well, high when it is. Instead I try to stay focussed and play consistently. When I missed the free throw shots in the Rocks game I apologised to the other players. I know how important free throws are and don’t want to mess these things up.

During your college years you switched colleges:
At Wake I didn’t feel my game was developing, we weren’t winning many games. It had a great reputation but the year I started there were lots of young players. I wasn’t improving so I decided to leave. I transferred to Henderson where we won things and I was one of the top players two years running. Wake was very good academically and training was fun at first but then I got totally switched off basketball, I couldn't even watch it on TV, I just didn’t want to know, so I had to move if I was going to make it professionally.

Niki is no stranger to injury:
I don’t know what that’s about, I never considered myself injury prone. I didn’t have any injuries at High School but when I went to college I did. I think when I went to college I was very skinny so I lifted a lot of weights to bulk up and I think it was just too much injury for my body. Then last year I had a serious injury when I played for the Rocks here on this floor so there was some trepidation coming back to this court. I think when you play sports professionally you’re going to have injuries of some form. It’s better to have them when you’re younger as they heal more quickly. When I got hurt here the doctor told me it was serious and my season was ended, I was cheering the team on then after the game I went to hospital and they confirmed the tear. My friends phoned me and asked how I was feeling, was I miserable and I was “Not really”. There’s nothing you can do about it so I just started working on my backup plans, I see it as more of a challenge, an obstacle to overcome.

You're setting up a designer label?
I have a friend called Kelly who loved fashion and customising clothes but she found her job unfulfilling. I suggested she go to school to study design. I’d studied finance (Niki was a Business Finance Major at Henderson) so we decided to establish a business together, we haven’t started up yet as she’s just in her first year at school.It'll be called NikiKelly.
Lots of professional players don’t think about life after basketball but what happens if you get injured and can’t play anymore? I’ve seen that happen before and it’s not going to happen to me. I’ve plans for the future with this designer label business, maybe a restaurant further down the line.

Tell me about your uncle:"Cardinal Arinze, frequently mentioned as a possible successor to Pope John Paul II, is president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, the Vatican's office for promoting mutual understanding, respect and collaboration between Catholics and followers of other religions. Born in Nigeria, Arinze was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1985."

You can bet on it, the odds in Vegas are 6-1! It might be getting closer with the Pope not being well. I’m not a practising Catholic, it’s just something we've lived with for years now, that my uncle is the Cardinal for Nigeria and may be the next Pope. We’re a big family and I hope everyone is as proud of me playing basketball.